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ArticleImpact of ultrasonication and high-pressure homogenization on the structure and characteristics of emulsion-templated oleogels stabilized by low-density lipoprotein/pectin complexes(Elsevier Ltd., 2025-05)This study focused on developing high-quality oleogels based on pectin (PE) and egg yolk low-density lipoprotein (LDL) using the emulsion-template approach. The properties of PE/LDL-stabilized emulsions structured using ultrasonication (US) and high-pressure homogenization (HPH), and their corresponding oleogels were compared. The particle size, apparent viscosity, microstructure, contact angle, and storage stability of emulsions fabricated by US and HPH were investigated. Additionally, the morphology, rheological and textural properties, and thermal behavior of US- and HPH-based oleogels were analyzed. The results showed that US-fabricated emulsions exhibited smaller particle size (1.88μm), lower viscosity, smaller contact angle (10.4°), and enhanced storage stability compared to HPH-treated emulsions. The US treatment improved interactions between PE and LDL, resulting in more uniform and denser crystalline networks, which effectively entrapped more oil to form stable oleogels. The US-based oleogels at a 1:1 LDL and PE ratio displayed a stronger solid-like structure with higher strength (G′ > 1000 Pa) and reduced oil loss (6.81%) compared to HPH-based oleogels. Furthermore, the US significantly enhanced the textural and thermal properties of oleogels over HPH. These findings highlight the US as a superior technique for constructing PE/LDL-based oleogels with enhanced functional properties, offering a promising method for various food applications.
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ArticleFood Insecurity Predictors Differ for White, Multicultural, and International College Students in the United States(MDPI, 2025-01-10)Background: Higher education institutions and public health agencies in the United States (US) have recognized that food insecurity is pervasive and interferes with student learning on multiple levels. However, less research has examined food insecurity among culturally diverse college students. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence and predictors of food insecurity for US-born White, US-born Multicultural, and International students aged 18–34 at a Midwest university. The secondary aims were to describe dietary and meal characteristics, and the use of food assistance programs, including the on-campus food pantry. Methods: In April 2022, 853 students completed the 10-item US Adult Food Security Module, and demographic, dietary fat intake, food attitude, food access barriers, and nutrition assistance program usage questions using a socio ecological model (SEM) framework. Results: Food security prevalence was 73.3% (54.7% high, 18.5% marginal) and food insecurity prevalence was 26.7% (14.4% low, 12.3% very low). Significantly more International (26.8%) and Multicultural (35.6%) students were classified as food-insecure compared to White students (19.9%; p < 0.001). Binomial and multinomial logistic regression models indicated that predictors of food insecurity were intrapersonal factors of race/ethnicity, poor self-reported health, being an undergraduate, and the community barriers of high food costs and limited transportation. Conclusions: Dietary characteristics differed more by nativity–ethnicity groups than they did by food security levels. Food cost emerged as a strong influence on food choice for the food-insecure students. International students utilized more nutrition assistance programs, including the on-campus food pantry, than other groups.
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ArticleEvolutionary dynamics of mitochondrial genomes and intracellular transfers among diploid and allopolyploid cotton species(BioMed Central Ltd, 2025-01-10)
Background Plant mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) exhibit extensive structural variation yet extremely low nucleotide mutation rates, phenomena that remain only partially understood. The genus Gossypium, a globally important source of cotton, offers a wealth of long-read sequencing resources to explore mitogenome and plastome variation and dynamics accompanying the evolutionary divergence of its approximately 50 diploid and allopolyploid species.
Results Here, we assembled 19 mitogenomes from Gossypium species, representing all genome groups (diploids A through G, K, and the allopolyploids AD) based on a uniformly applied strategy. A graph-based mitogenome assembly method revealed more alternative structural conformations than previously recognized, some of which confirmed the mitogenome structure reported in earlier studies on cotton. Using long-read data, we quantified alternative conformations mediated by recombination events between repeats, and phylogenetically informative structural variants were noted. Nucleotide substitution rate comparisons between coding and non-coding regions revealed low mutation rates across the entire mitogenome. Genome-wide mapping of nuclear organellar DNA transfers (NUOTs) in Gossypium revealed a nonrandom distribution of transfers in the nuclear genome. In cotton, the fate of NUOT events varied, with mitochondrion-to-nucleus transfer (NUMT) predominantly retained as short fragments in the nuclear genome, with more plastid sequences integrated into the nucleus. Phylogenetic relationships inferred using different data sets highlighted distinct evolutionary histories among these cellular compartments, providing ancillary evidence relevant to the evolutionary history of Gossypium.
Conclusions A comprehensive analysis of organellar genome variation demonstrates complex structural variation and low mutation rates across the entire mitogenome and reveals the history of organellar genome transfer among the three genomes throughout the cotton genus. The findings enhance our general understanding of mitogenome evolution, comparative organellar and nuclear evolutionary rates, and the history of inter-compartment genomic integration.
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PreprintRapid Acquisition of 103Rh Solid-State NMR Spectra by 31P Detection and Sideband Selective Methods( 2025-01-10)103Rh solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is potentially a powerful method for investigating the molecular and electronic structure of rhodium compounds. However, 103Rh is a difficult nucleus to study by NMR spectroscopy because of its small gyromagnetic ratio, broad chemical shift range, and long spin-lattice relaxation times (T1). While there are many prior reports demonstrating acquisition of 103Rh solution NMR spectra, there are few reports establishing a facile method with high sensitivity for acquiring 103Rh solid-state NMR spectra. Here, we utilize the large 31P-103Rh J-couplings (80-200 Hz) to efficiently acquire 31P-detected high-resolution 103Rh SSNMR spectra. We use sideband selective SSNMR techniques originally developed for wideline 195Pt SSNMR experiments. Notably, using these methods, we were able to acquire MAS 103Rh SSNMR spectra in experiment times on the order of 30 minutes to a few hours and from only a few mg of materials. The sideband selective experiments offer significant time savings as compared to existing direct detection methods, which require days of acquisition to obtain a directly detected MAS spectrum, or only yield low-resolution static powder patterns. Numerical fits of the spectra provide chemical shift tensor parameters, with the experimental spectra agreeing well with the DFT-calculated spectra.
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PreprintDipeptidase 1 is a functional receptor for coronavirus PHEV( 2025-01-10)Coronaviruses of the subgenus Embecovirus include several relevant pathogens such as the human seasonal coronaviruses HKU1 and OC43, bovine coronavirus, and porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (PHEV), among others. While sialic acid is thought to be required for embecovirus entry, protein receptors are unknown in most cases. Here we show that PHEV does not require sialic acid for entry and uses dipeptidase 1 (DPEP1) as a receptor. Cryo-electron microscopy revealed that PHEV, unlike other embecoviruses, samples open and closed conformations of its spike trimer at steady state. We found that the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the PHEV spike shares no detectable sequence homology or receptor usage with those of closely related viruses. In contrast, the X-ray structure of the RBD/DPEP1 complex showed that the elements involved in receptor binding are conserved across embecoviruses, revealing a striking versatility of the RBD to accommodate highly variable sequences that confer novel receptor specificities.